Cranberry Inhibits Lung Cancer Cells Initiation and Progression

By Kyle J. Norton

The lung formed part of the respiratory system is a vital organ located near the backbone on either side of the heart with functions of inhaling oxygen from the air then transporting them to the bloodstream and exhaling carbon dioxide from the bloodstream.

Lung diseases are a class of condition associated with reduced function of the lung, including lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a medical condition associated with abnormal growth of the cells in the lung’s tissue that begins in the cells on the surface of the inner lining tissues of the lung due to the alternation of cell DNA.
Most common form of primary lung cancer is derived from epithelial cells. 
In the US, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths. According to the statistics from the American Cancer Society, in 2019, about 228,150 new cases of lung cancer, including 116,440 in men and 111,710 in women will be diagnosed in the US.

Sadly, lung cancer also causes the death of 142,670 American death, including 76,650 in men and 66,020 in women in the same year.

The lifetime risk of lung cancer in a man is 6.7% compared to 5.9% in a woman.
The exact causes of lung cancer are not known. However, epidemiologically, smoking tobacco, second-hand smoke, radon, asbestos, occupational exposure to certain chemicals, personal or family history of lung cancer and lung disease and exposure to radiation are some major factors found in patients with lung cancer.

Dr. Ozlü T, the lead scientist wrote, ” Tobacco use has been reported to be the main cause of 90% of male and 79% of female lung cancers. 90% of deaths from lung cancer are estimated to be due to smoking”.

And, “The risk of lung cancer development is 20-40 times higher in lifelong smokers compared to non-smokers. Environmental cigarette smoke exposure and different types of smoking have been shown to cause pulmonary carcinoma. DNA adducts, the metabolites of smoke carcinogens bound covalently with DNA, are regarded as an indicator of cancer risk in smokers”.

Cranberry is an evergreen dwarf shrub, genus Vaccinium, belongings to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern America and Southern Asia. Because of its health benefits, cranberry has been cultivated in some parts of the world for commercial profit and used in traditional and herbal medicine to treat wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems.

On finding a potential compound for the protection of lung cell integrity, researchers examined the effect of the efficacy of proanthocyanidin-rich cranberry fraction (PAC) on lung cancer.
According to the tested analysis, NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells treated with 50 µg/mL PAC or vehicle for 6 hours, PAC exerted a significant activity in the regulation of apoptosis, regulation of programmed cell death, positive regulation of cell death, positive regulation of apoptosis, and apoptotic mitochondrial changes.

Moreover, also NCI-H460 human lung cancer cells treated with 50 µg/mL PAC showed a strong effect on cancer cell metabolism, protein modifications, and cell cycle by inhibiting the M phase of the mitotic cell cycle, mitosis, M phase, cell cycle checkpoint, and regulation of cell cycle process.

More precisely,  PAC induced lung cancer cell apoptosis and anti-proliferative activity through cell cycle arrest.

Furthermore, PAC treatment also enhanced the levels of glutathione S-transferases associated
with blocking cancer cell metastasis.

PAC treatment also down-regulated DNA metabolism, cell cycle, meiosis, mitosis and interestingly oncogenesis signaling.

PAC treatment also inhibited the alternation of ErbB receptors and signaling pathways and mTOR signaling pathways mutated in lung tumors, involved in cancer development and progression

Taken altogether, cranberry used conjunction with other remedies may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.


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Author Biography

Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years

(1) Cranberry proanthocyanidins mediate growth arrest of lung cancer cells through modulation of gene expression and rapid induction of apoptosis by Kresty LA1, Howell AB, Baird M. (PubMed)
(2) Smoking and lung cancer by Ozlü T1, Bülbül Y. (PubMed)